Fermentation done after 4 days

[PJ805]

I just completed 4 days of primary fermentation from cabernet grapes. My specific gravity came out 0.996. What would've caused it to finish so fast? Are there any negative effects that could come from it?

 

[Johnd]

I just completed 4 days of primary fermentation from cabernet grapes. My specific gravity came out 0.996. What would've caused it to finish so fast? Are there any negative effects that could come from it?

Good fermentation conditions, plenty available nutrients, and possibly higher temps. I do my Cabs hot and fast, good color and tannin extraction, you shouldn’t worry, it just couldn’t wait to be wine......

 

[dralarms]

Temp. Is a big cause. The warmer the must the quicker the ferment.

 

[PJ805]

Good to know I'm still ok, temp was between 70 and 75 about 90% of the time, with a few peaks down to 68 and up to 77. I'm fairly sure it's the grapes because I have a batch of syrah going right next to it which ended primary at 1.000 and is now bubbling happily in secondary.

 

[NorCal]

What was your starting brix?

 

[PJ805]

Going off of the winery's word, the cab was at 24, the Syrah a tad less.

 

[NorCal]

That is fast, especially with those temperatures.

 

[PJ805]

I've had this happen before, two batches of zinfandel side by side, each batch from a different vineyard. The healthier looking grapes finished in about 5 days too after primary only, while the other batch spent a little over a week in secondary before hitting target.

 

[Scooter68]

If the room temp was between 70-75 you can bet that the wine itself was at a significantly higher temp (+10-15 degrees) during fermentation. That process generates a lot of things beside alcohol and one of them is heat.

 

[baron4406]

Just did 3 lugs of Petit Syrah, I split them between two fermenters and hit them each with a packet of Cellar Science yeast. Also put heat belts on them. I went to add some nutrient after 3 days and it was done lol. I let it sit on the skins for another few days. I also co-innoculated with C-16 and its in the secondary finishing MLF. The wine looks like ink its so dark, its why I only do hot ferments on red grape wines. The extraction you get is amazing.